Showers lash city, waterlogging worsens traffic chaos

Traffic woes gave a harrowing time to commuters in the national capital on Saturday morning as roads turned into ponds after heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in several areas and long tailbacks of vehicles on major roads. A blame- game ensued among the civic agencies over the lack of preparation for the monsoon.

Traffic constables had a tough time managing traffic across the city. According to Delhi traffic police, about 60 per cent of complaints received on Saturday morning pertained to waterlogging which caused traffic jams at Jasola, Okhla, Apollo towards Ashram, RTR towards IIT Gate, AIIMS, Chelmsford Road towards Paharganj, Ring Road Sarai Kale Khan towards DND, Sarita Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Defence Colony flyover and INA among others.

Several parts of the city were heavily inundated but South Delhi was among the worst hit and reeled under severe traffic congestion. Residents and commuters faced a tough time as the mouth of flyovers, underpasses and low- lying localities such as Sangam Vihar were flooded due to waterlogging.

“Fortunately, it is the weekend and the water accumulated on major stretches had reduced significantly by the peak hours. Had it been a weekday, things would have been worse,” special commissioner of police ( traffic) Sandeep Goel said.

Amid the troubles faced by Delhiites, BJP led municipal corporations and the public works department, which is under the AAP government, traded charges over desilting of drains. Subhash Arya, leader of the House in South Delhi Municipal Corporation ( SDMC), claimed that the civic body had cleaned all drains under its jurisdiction while the problem was due to the unclean drains falling under the jurisdiction of the PWD.

“All the ( drains) under SDMC have been properly cleaned and silt has also been removed. The bigger drains, that the smaller ones ultimately join, fall under the jurisdiction of PWD and they were not desilted and turned out to be the major cause for waterlogging,” Mr Arya said.